February 6th, 2005
“Why We Are Not Aware of Divinity Within”
OM… OM… OM…
Sai Ram
With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,
All scriptures say that God is within us. All prophets, saints, seekers, and aspirants from all over the world, from all different eras, have unanimously concluded that God is to be found within. All religions declare this same truth, that God is inside, that God is within us. So, why we are not able to know this?
All the scriptures and all eminent people clearly state that God is present both in the animate and inanimate, in the mobile and immobile, from microcosm to macrocosm, and that there is no place where God is not. In fact, the scriptures have gone one step further to say that it is only God that exists and that all the rest are His illusions, that God is the only reality and all the rest is either illusory or imaginary.
When that is so, why is it that we do not know it? How is it that we are not aware of it? When it is accepted that God is everywhere, in everyone, what is the main reason for our continued ignorance of this? Well, as we delve deeply into the subject now, we will come to understand at least one or two conspicuous and common reasons.
First and foremost, the reason we are not aware of the Divinity within is that we are extroverts, that our concentration and our attention is directed toward the external world. This causes us to fail to experience of the Divinity within.
When my pen is in my pocket, there is no point in searching for it in the canteen. When my glasses are here, right on my nose, there is no point in searching for them in the almirah. We must search for something where it actually is. We must search where it has been lost; but we search somewhere else. That’s the reason we are not able to experience the Divinity within.
Bhagavan Baba has given us an example. It seems that a scorpion had bitten a student. Because of the scorpion bite, the boy suffered excruciating pain, and immediately, a doctor was called for.
The doctor arrived and said, “Boy! I see you suffering like this. What’s the reason?”
The boy said, “Doctor, a scorpion has bitten me, causing me to suffer terrific pain.”
The doctor said, “Don’t worry. I’ll give you the proper ointment. Just apply it where the scorpion has bitten you.”
The boy became quite hopeful and happy hearing this, and took the ointment. One hour later, he returned and said, “Oh doctor! The pain now is even greater than it was!”
The doctor said, “No! That can’t be. I gave you the correct ointment, the correct medicine to cure the pain. How can it be more painful now than before? I will give you a more powerful medicine this time. Now apply it where the scorpion has bitten you.”
The boy went and returned an hour later. “Doctor! I am dying! Both the ointments, both the medicines that you have given me have failed to work! I am sorry, but you must have given me medicine for some other condition, and not the correct remedy for a scorpion bite.”
The doctor was very surprised. “I have put in three decades of service toward curing others. Many people have been totally cured. How is it that you are now suffering more from the pain? Tell me, boy, where have you applied the ointment?”
The boy said, “Doctor! I applied the ointment strictly according to your instructions.”
The doctor said, “What were my instructions?”
“You wanted me to apply the
ointment where I was bitten by the scorpion.”
“I see. Please show me where it has bitten you.”
“Doctor, it bit me there in the corner of the room.” (Laughter) “There in the corner of the room, the scorpion has bitten me! Therefore I applied ointment there in the corner of the room.”
Similarly, we are like the boy who applied ointment on the floor in the corner of the room, this boy who could not find relief from his pain, but who could have solved his problem easily had he applied the ointment on the spot where he was bitten.
If we understood where to seek God, we would find Him there, and know His grace. Even though the scriptures clearly say that God is within us, we search for Him on the outside. That is why we are not able to experience Him. That is why we are not able to know Him.
Bhagavan has given another example. Swami is known for his beautiful stories and parables, which we can apply to situations in our daily lives. In this parable, a young man was riding his bicycle at twilight, around 6:30 in the evening. This boy then saw an old lady frantically searching under a streetlight for something she had lost.
This young student, a man of service, immediately got down from his cycle and asked, “Grandma, what is it that you are searching for?”
The old lady said to him, “I am searching for the needle that I have lost.”
The student then asked, “Grandmother, do you know where exactly you dropped the needle?”
The grandmother replied, “I lost the needle there in the kitchen.”
Then the boy asked, “Then, why do you search for it under the street light? You lost it there in the kitchen, but you are searching for it here under the streetlight. Why?”
The grandmother replied, “I don’t have any light in the kitchen. Therefore I am searching here under the street light.” (Laughter) The needle is lost in there, but she is searching for it out here!
Similarly, all scriptures unanimously declare that God is within us; yet we search for Him outside -- just the opposite of where we should look! This is the first reason why we have missed our objective and goal, and cannot find Him.
What is the second reason why we fail to know that God is to be found inside? The second reason is this: We think that we are spiritual. We think that we are religious if we have read the scriptures, if we have scriptural knowledge. I know enough of the Bhagavad Gita, so I must be spiritual. I know enough of the Vedas, so I am religious. I have gone through the Holy Bible; I read it twice a day. Therefore I am deeply religious.
Most of us are under the mistaken impression that the knowledge gained from the scriptures is enough. We think the information in the Holy Scriptures is enough. Certainly not! Scriptural knowledge will never make any person spiritual. It’s impossible! Information from the Bhagavad Gita, Koran, Bible, or Dhammapada, whatever you may think, will never make anybody religious. Mental knowledge gained from texts is not spirituality.
On the contrary, this knowledge is a burden, a dead weight. Bhagavan Baba’s emphasis is not on information; please be very clear about that. One may be a great scholar, but scholarship has got nothing to do with the religion. This kind of knowledge has got nothing to do with spirituality. But the common and mistaken view is that the more we are able to quote freely from these holy books, the more we believe that we are deeply religious and spiritual men.
This is false notion, a wrong concept. This belief is perverted. This belief actually betrays one’s own self. It does nothing but deceive one’s own self, because this knowledge gained is, after all, just second-hand information.
In His discourse on the Bhagavad Gita, Baba clearly says that you may be an expert in the text of the holy book, but still that may not be of any help to you. If you surrender however, if you have got a deeper yearning within you, a pining, a devotion, a deep love for God, then you will experience a special Bhagavad Gita designed just for you.
It will not be the Bhagavad Gita as told to Arjuna by Krishna. It will not be that Bhagavad Gita, that famous conversation, that celestial song, that dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna; but with the spirit of surrender, Bhagavan says, God will create a special Bhagavad Gita, one designed just for you.
But we are not deserving of the special Bhagavad Gita designed just for us, because we just confuse the two -- ours and the text of Arjuna’s message from God; and further we confuse knowledge of that text with being religious. Being religious is one thing, but appearing to be religious is a different thing altogether. We want to appear as religious people rather than actually being religious.
Appearances can be deceptive. I may appear to be religious even while I am not
religious in spirit. In trying to appear religious, I perform rituals. In trying
to appear religious, I make myself a scholar and demonstrate my scholarship. In
trying to appear as a religious man, I participate in all the ceremonies and
festivals. If we behave in these ways, we appear to be religious, but that is a
false image that we create for ourselves to impress the people among whom we
move.
In order to create and give a false image of my own personality as a deeply religious person, I pour through the holy books, observe all the religious rituals, and observe all the ceremonies, because I want to be known as a religious man. I want to appear as a religious man. I want the whole society to feel that I am a spiritual man. In doing that, in developing that false personality, most of my time is spent; yet the real taste of God has never entered my life. The real experience has not yet been enjoyed.
All my money is for vanity. My position I use for influence. My scholarship is used to earn respect and esteem from the public. These religious affections have also become a matter of prestige. Just as people say I am a rich man and respect me, just as people call me a scholar and give me a special place, let me also be known as a religious man to gain status.
But my friends, religion is not a subject that relates to our community. Religion has got nothing to do with our society. Religion is not community-oriented. Religion is totally individualistic. Religion is totally personal.
You may win an election, but you may not win yourself. We may be successful in gaining a place on our political party’s ticket, with a ruling party, but we may not get any place in the Kingdom of Heaven, because we are confused -- because we make everything social. Yet religion and spirituality are personal, having nothing to do with society or how others may regard us.
In certain places, even bhajans have become social gatherings. Service centres have become centres of influence where people meet to achieve their own personal gains. We have even made religious centres places for social gatherings, creating influential circles where one may even foster their own business.
Therefore, we are not able to reap the fruits of these religious centres. We are not able to know the true spirit of spirituality there. We are not able to experience the depth of religion in these religious centres. Instead, we use them for false social gains, with a wrong identification, adopting a pseudo or false methodology. That’s the reason why we are not able to experience God within.
So to repeat once again, when we have the tendency to focus outward, and when we make our religious life a social or community-oriented affair, we are not able to go within.
There is also a third reason why we have difficulty seeing and finding God within, due to our own concepts and biases. We have our own mental projections regarding God and Divinity. We expect God to be like this. We want God to act like that. We impose our plans and our schedules on God. We project our preferences, our choices, and our psychological and mental concepts on God – what we believe Him to be.
This means that we cannot be open to what God actually is. Our minds are not open to that. Our minds are closed. Why are they closed? We are closed because of the programming in our life, because of the family in which we are raised, because of the community where we grew up. Because of history, because of tradition, we are programmed and we are conditioned. So we project our thoughts on what we expect God’s image to be. That’s where we miss the real experience.
A simple example: When I speak about Lord Jesus Christ, I should be open to live in Christ. I should be open to enjoy His teachings. I should be open to know and love and adore His spirit of sacrifice, His love for mankind. I should not be prejudiced; I should not be biased. I should listen without being biased by the conditioning of my Hindu background.
So long as I think I am a Hindu, however, I am not going to be open to the teachings of Christ. I am not going to be open to the life of Christ. I am not going to benefit from the teachings of Christ. I am not going to benefit from the sermons in church, as I think I am a Hindu. Therefore, having already been steeped in Hindu scriptures and Hindu background, everything I project from my beliefs will cut me off from the messages of the Christian gospel.
The same thing happens to Christians too. When I think that I am a Christian, I will not be able to enjoy the Bhagavad Gita and its teachings. I will not be able to know Krishna and Krishna-Consciousness. Therefore, if we identify ourselves with a particular religion, we are not open. We project through the lens of our religious identity, our affiliation with that religion, through the spectacles of our dogma, through the glasses of our fanaticism. That’s why we are not open.
If we are closed to a spiritual teaching due to our religion, we are neither able to enjoy it nor to derive the maximum benefit from it, as true spirituality lies beyond religion. Religion is narrow, while spirituality is wide. Religion is limited -- a particular method, a particular pattern, a particular way. On the other hand, spirituality is broad. Our religion can hinder us from reaching the spiritual realm. We may not be able to enter the panorama of spirituality. We may not be able to reach the horizons of spirituality because we are conditioned by our religion and our religious considerations.
Baba puts emphasis on spirituality. Baba’s teaching is spiritual. We see that everywhere. He speaks of the fellowship of religions, the unity of religions. The Sarva Dharma symbol of Prashanti Nilayam demonstrates this spiritual breadth, and stands for its spiritual content. It represents not one view, but the overall view.
Therefore my friends, we are cut off from the depth of spiritual experience due to our closed minds, our conditioned minds, our programmed minds, our prejudiced minds. Viewing things through the perspective formed from my own background, from my own life, my own birth, my own upbringing, and from the norms of the society, makes my mind closed. This is the third reason why we are not able to experience Divinity within.
WE ARE USING WRONG methods
The fourth reason that we are not able to experience God within concerns our methods. The method that we adopt is not exactly suited for what we need. To know my weight, I cannot use a thermometer. A thermometer will never indicate my weight. A thermometer will reveal my temperature. To know my temperature, I cannot stand on a scale. A scale tells my weight, not my temperature!
So the methods we use to know the world are different from the methods we must use to know God within. To know God within is totally different from knowing things in the outside world. We adopt the same method however, and that’s why we don’t achieve our goal. Because I use a scale to know my temperature, and I use a thermometer to know my weight, I will neither know my weight nor my temperature.
That is exactly what we do today. As a result, we are neither successful in knowing the world nor successful in seeing within, having used the same method for both. We have not understood exactly what the correct method is. Instead of boarding a flight that would take me to New York, I board a different flight that takes me to Iraq! (Laughter) I am not boarding the right flight. Clearly they tell me to go to Gate 9, Flight Number 2311; but I go to another gate and board another flight. Then, when I land somewhere else, I start crying.
Whose fault is it? It is mine. The ticket I purchased is for one destination, while the flight I got on is for another destination. So naturally the destination I reach is altogether different than the one I wanted.
Therefore my friends, the method we follow to know the world, to be successful in the world, is called analysis. Analysis will help you be very successful in this world. A man who does not analyse will be a failure. We should be able to analyse things clearly to be successful at home, in the office and in the community. I should be able to analyse. I should be able to understand clearly what the other man says. I should step into his shoes and see things from his viewpoint.
In a community, I should be more accommodating. I should analyse things and decide what things are good for me and what things are good for the community. Analysis is the key to success in the world.
But in spirituality, analysis won’t help you. No! Analysis requires that you analyse things. How do you analyse? You analyse bit-by-bit. Suppose you want to analyse a big machine. You cannot stand at a distance and determine whether the machine is in a perfect order. No! You must check every nut, every screw, every bolt, in order to know that the machine is perfect. So to analyse means knowing every little thing, every bit of it and every part of it. Analysis requires that we analyse the totality of something.
In the world, we observe simple things, individual things, bit-by-bit. That is analysis. I have to know what work I should do in the office. I have to know what work I should do at home. I should know whom to contact, know my engagements for the day, my appointments for the day. I should know every bit. I should be very, very clear, bit-by-bit. That makes for good and proper analysis. This is what is meant by ‘to analyse’.
So, analysis is the way of the world; but analysis is out of question in spirituality. When you start analysing, you may know everything, but not God. Through analysis, we may experience anything, but not God, because analysis is a different way, a different path, a different direction altogether.
For spirituality, we should follow the path of ‘synthesis’. Analysis is the path of the world, and synthesis is the path of God. People want to argue and discuss and quote, but that’s all analysis. That has got nothing to do with God or Divinity.
Synthesis: Synthesis aims at totality, the totality, a holistic view. Analysis is segmental or a fragmentary approach, studying bit-by-bit, piece-by-piece. When you study what you see bit-by-bit, it is called analysis. When you try to know the whole, the totality; that is synthesis.
Therefore spirituality calls for the approach of synthesis, so that we will have a holistic view, a total view, and the totality of existence. Then spirituality can become our living reality; spirituality can become our lived experience. Spirituality can be more than an explanation. Spirituality is then no longer a sermon. Spirituality is then no longer a scripture. Spirituality must become a lived experience. Spirituality must be the totality of existence. Spirituality relates to and is found through the process of synthesis, which is total, not fragmental.
Let me give you one example of the difference between synthesis and analysis. The body is composed of hands, legs, ears, and nose. If I cut off various parts of my body, they are separate. If I cut off my two legs, they then stand separate. That is analysis -- the bits. However, if I put all my parts back together, the two legs, two hands, two ears, two eyes, all the parts reassembled, will I get the original form back? No! The body seems to be made of limbs and organs, and when these parts and organs are separated, you can analyse them. When all organs are re-assembled once again, however, can you get back the original? No! The life (force) is gone!
“Sir, I removed his eyes and legs and feet! That’s all! Now, I am going to reassemble him.” Can you bring him back? No!
This is the difference between analysis and synthesis. Analysis is cutting up the body and examining it bit-by-bit. Synthesis is not merely the assembly of organs, but something more. Synthesis is not merely the combination of organs, but something more. Synthesis is life, the life force! That is the difference between analysis and synthesis.
Analysis always leaves room for doubt. When you say, “This is the principle”, another man may say, “You are wrong! Another principle can and should be applied here.”
Analysis always entertains doubt. That’s the reason why no two scholars ever agree; why no two scholars are ever friends. They fight with each other. They may say ‘hello’ when they meet face-to-face, but in their each other’s absence, they have no good words for each other. Because of analysis, they go on doubting! What one man says, the other man says ‘no’ to, because according to ‘his’ analysis, he has come to a different conclusion.
In the laboratory, using science and technology, everything is based on analysis. Science and technology, agriculture, engineering, medicine, these all rely on analysis. These disciplines are all based on analysis, and as you analyse, your recordings, your observations of your experiment, are different from my observations and my recordings of the same experiment. The experiments may be the same, but observations may be different. Students of physics and chemistry all agree with me here.
Another simple, fundamental example is an experiment regarding the movement of the pendulum. This experiment is one of the first for all physics students -- studying pendulum oscillations. We count them and we record the results. We observe and we make calculations. Your calculations are different from my calculations. Your recordings are different from my recordings. It is the same experiment, but our observations differ. This is what analysis is.
But synthesis is not like this. With synthesis, all of us will arrive at the same conclusion. Our observations cannot be different. Our paths are not different. Our conclusions cannot be different. In analysis, our conclusions may be different, our directions may be different, our observations may be different; but in synthesis, the procedure is same and the conclusion is same. Why?
In synthesis, there is only one process—to go within. There is only one process. No other. What is that process? It is the process of inquiry. The process of inquiry is the only way to get in, to go within, to enjoy the Self within, and to experience God within. The path of inquiry is the only one. The conclusion will always be the same. The path of inquiry takes us all to the same conclusion. What is that conclusion? It is that the same Self that I experience is present in everyone.
But in analysis, our observations are different, our recordings are different, our conclusions are different, and the people who conduct the experiments are different. Therefore difference, diversity, and doubt are all factors in the process of analysis. Doubt and differences, these are factors inherent in the process of analysis, leading to division and diversity. But in synthesis, unity, oneness, the experience of the Self, the experience of the same Self, is all pervading uniformly, all over. We find that the One manifests into the many, only One becomes many; so we all reach the same conclusion in this process of inquiry, in this process of synthesis.
So my friends, our confusion comes about because as we want to analyse the world, we also want to analyse God. We analyse everything in this world, bit-by-bit, piece-by-piece, point-by-point. We want to analyse God bit-by-bit too, using the same method we apply to the external world.
Sometimes we think Baba knows everything. Sometimes we think He only knows everything except this or that. (Laughter) We say God, Baba, is everywhere. Later, we may say He is everywhere except that He is not here. I doubt this. (Laughter) This is what we do. This is the way of the world, this analysis; but it is not the way of God.
Some people will still go on analysing: “You know, that Baba, I will tell you what He is.”
If you tell your friend, how can he understand? Can you eat on his behalf? No! We want to analyse and give our own interpretation. Many people want to do this.
Somebody may say to me, “Mr. Anil Kumar, when you look within, in the early hours of the morning, sit straight and start imagining blue light, and you will see that blue light within and around you.”
I have sat many times, but no blue light has come…only black darkness. (Laughter) You may get a blue light or a red light, but I don’t get any light! Even the little existing light disappears once I close my eyes! (Laughter)
Some people say that when you go within, a cool breeze will pass through you. I have not experienced any such cool breeze. (Laughter)
These are all nothing but our own mental projections. This is all nothing but our psychological reaction. These are all nothing but our own feelings. These are all our expectations that we project as our experiences. Expectations projected as experiences. That is not spirituality. In spirituality, there are no expectations.
You shouldn’t expect God to be like this. You shouldn’t expect God to act like that. You can’t expect God to behave like this. You cannot dictate terms to Him. Acceptance. Acceptance is the way to God. Acceptance.
The way of the world is to question. If you do not question, you are going to be deceived. Outside you will find the fruit vendors and the flower vendors. They give you a thread with some flowers, a small garland.
“How much does it cost?” You have to question him.
“Twenty rupees.”
“I see.”
“Why twenty? Why not two rupees, or even one rupee? That would be better.”
If you do not question, you lose your money. You will be deceived. So, to question is the way of the world. To doubt is the way of the world.
Some people will tell you, “This is the japamala that will take you directly to heaven!”
I say, “I am not in a hurry to reach heaven. Please keep quiet.” (Laughter)
Or should I say, “Show me some people who have reached heaven with this japamala so that I can follow them.” (Laughter)
We should doubt and question the world; but questioning in the spiritual world, in the spiritual realms, is altogether different. Questioning in the world is born of doubt. I doubt, so I question.
But in spirituality, the question should be born out of faith. Let us understand this very clearly. In spirituality, questions should be born out of faith; whereas in the world, questions are born out of doubt. That’s altogether different.
Arjuna puts questions to Lord Krishna. The Bhagavad Gita is nothing but questions and answers—a guide, a pukka guide. All the Upanishads are questions and answers. Can I say that they irreligious? Can I say that the questions are silly? Shall I say that they should not have asked those questions? No! Those questions are born out of faith. Those questions are born out of open-mindedness. The questions are asked to affirm, to re-affirm, to re-establish, and to deepen the roots of faith; whereas in the world, we question to prove that our doubt is correct.
Somebody said this is a gold ring. I doubt what they have said. I wonder if it is gold-plated or gold. I doubt. I question. When I question, it is proved that it is not pure gold. So, to confirm your doubt, you question. To find out what is right or wrong, we question.
But in spirituality, we question to strengthen our faith, to deepen our faith, because if a question is born out of doubt, it will make you indecisive. You will go on thinking, to be or not to be. Indecision--we are not able to decide, so we will go on questioning, go on doubting. It is an endless journey. When you doubt everything, what will you get? A spiritual question born out of doubt will never find an answer.
A fellow has got doubt, and then he starts questioning. Next he questions me. When I answer him, he doesn’t want to hear! A questioner asking a question that is born out of doubt is not eager to know the answer. Please don’t let them ask you, because they just want to say ‘no’ to you. They want to disagree. They want to prove you wrong. They won’t leave you until you also develop doubt. (Laughter) This is what is called ‘bad company’. Bad company does not mean drunkards and smokers. No. Bad company is he who shakes your faith. Bad company is he who makes you doubt.
Therefore, my friends, a spiritual question born out of doubt will make you indecisive. It is suicidal. It creates confusion. But a question born out of faith in spirituality only deepens your faith, only strengthens your faith, so that you may stand like a rock, unshakable.
That’s why Arjuna asked questions, so that he could become doubtless. He became more faithful as a result. He asked so that his faith could take another step forward and further establish itself in trust. Trust is a greater dose—500 mg. 25 mg is a less powerful dose. Doubt lowers the potency. Faith raises the potency. Trust is the highest potency.
Therefore, my friends, a question born out of faith will establish trust in me, an unshakable trust. I become more decisive. Therefore, we should never entertain doubt and then question thereafter. We should develop faith and then question.
When we talk to people, we should be very clear about this—with what intention is he asking me? What is the purpose behind his question? Is he simply asking me to know to what extent I know? Is he simply putting a question that I might say ‘yes’ to him, or that I might appreciate the level of his question? Is he putting the question to me so that he can deny whatever I say? Is he putting a question while getting another question ready before he even receives an answer from me to the first question? People are in a hurry, thinking of question after question. They never listen. They are not interested in your answer. This is the way of the world.
Therefore my friends, in the world, we always run the risk, the threat, of losing our security. This risk exists at all levels. Every country wants to stand supreme. When a country stands insecure, it invents the bomb, a nitrogen bomb, a hydrogen bomb, even a nuclear bomb to destroy the whole world, including itself.
This inventing of powerful bombs, of explosives, to extinguish, to make this world extinct, is just violence. It is born out of insecurity. The feeling of superiority is born out of a sense of inferiority. We should understand this well. Because he feels inferior, he wants to prove that he is superior. All this scientific achievement, particularly these bombs, the atom bombs, the nuclear weapons, these are born out of insecurity or fear. The way of the world is fear-oriented. The way to God, however, is not fear-oriented.
Here there is Himalayan ignorance amongst most of us. I don’t want to go to hell, so I worship God. How do you know that hell is bad? How do you know that heaven is good? Nobody ever returned from heaven and told me, “This is the description, Mr. Anil Kumar. Please join me there.” (Laughter) Nobody said that hell is horrible and terrible. Nobody who has been has said this to me!
In Hindu scriptures, the descriptions of swarga, heaven, and the descriptions of naraka, or hell, are only symbolic. They are designed to make an ordinary man, to make a layman, to make an innocent man, refrain from wrong actions.
If I tell you, “You’ll go to hell if you steal,” then you will say, “Alright
then, I won’t steal.”
To see to it that man is good, to see to it that man undertakes meritorious deeds, heaven and hell are depicted and described in the scriptures. They are purely imaginary. We don’t need to go to hell or heaven after death. Both of them are right here.
When I am insulted, it is hell. When I am praised, it is heaven. When I am peaceful, it is heaven. When I am restless, it is hell. When I am condemned, it is hell. So, heaven and hell are right here! Sometimes we even get overdrafts--before we complete the wrong action, we already begin to suffer. Therefore, my friends, heaven and hell are imaginary. They are right here.
In this world, we experience success and failure, which are realities here. Success and failure are realities of life—profits and losses, for example. But in spirituality, success and failure are not to be perceived, not to be conceived. In spirituality, we have neither profit nor loss, because inner awareness is not to be analysed or judged, but only to be experienced.
Somebody had a very good question this morning. “Mr. Anil Kumar, is it right to be attached to Baba instead of being attached to world?” they asked. This is the question asked me this morning. “Is it right to be attached to Baba rather than be attached to the world?”
Then I said to him, “My friend, give me just five minutes time. Don’t be in a hurry, because I cannot just tick one and say that is the correct answer. Life is not a multiple choice exam.” (Laughter) Please. You love your family. You are attached to your family. You are attached to your country. You love your people. You love your traditions. You are attached to your culture. Good. That is the first stage.
The second stage is this centre of love. The centre of attachment is shifted to God now. That is equally attachment. That is equally attachment! Some people may say, “I am attached to Allah, and I will finish off all people who are not attached to Allah.” There is constant fight between Catholics and Protestants. There is regularly fighting between Vaishnavites and Shaivites. These fights go on eternally, between Shias and Sunnis of the Islamic faith. There are differences of opinion between Mahayana and Hinayana of Buddhism.
Divergence, divergence! Differences! Well, that is not what is expected here. What is expected here is unity, oneness. That is the reality of life. In the world, we are divided. In God, we are one.
Therefore my friends, the experience of Divinity within is lacking, because the method adopted and the goals aimed for are totally different from what we experience in the world. So now the situation demands a total transformation -- a total transformation.
So what I told that gentleman is that in the first part of his question, I am attached to my family, to my community. In the second part, that attachment has shifted to God now. That’s the reason why people say, “I cry when I leave Puttaparti.” Oh I see. You are attached to Prashanti Nilayam, because you cry when you leave this place.
“Sir, I missed this morning’s darshan!” you cry. You are attached to the name and form. I am not saying that is wrong. No! No! No! No! It is part of our journey. It is part of the process of our evolution. It is a part of our process of progression, our process of growth. I am not blaming anyone. All these things are necessary.
Now, I am attached to God. By God, I mean to His name and form. When I am attached to name and form, it is equally painful. Attachment to name and form is equally painful because you can’t be near the form all the twenty-four hours. After darshan, He will go inside. Now we have to cry. At bhajan time, He will sit. We will smile. Again He will go. We cry. At evening darshan He will come. We enjoy! Again He goes. We cry. (Laughter) So, even this attachment to name and form is painful.
The first phase: attachment to world is painful. I do not need to explain or elaborate because we all experience that pain. In fact, that pain, due to our attachment to the world, has brought us here, so it is also promoted our growth. It has also helped us. The pain of the world is not negative. It has given us positive results in getting us to turn toward God.
Now for the second phase: I have understood that there is no lasting pleasure in this world. I have suffered enough pain in this world, and therefore, I have come out of it. Pain has also given me pleasure; loss also has benefited me. The so-called negativity has ended up in positivity. (Laughter) But remember that being attached to name and form is also painful, because you cannot have it all the time.
Then comes the third phase: God as nameless and formless. Namelessness and formlessness -- these are the ultimate. Namelessness. What does this mean? Tom, Dick and Harry? X, Y and Z? No! Nameless means all names are His. He has no specific name. There is no particular name. When all names are His, that is namelessness. It is not the absence of a name. It is not the absence of name when you say that all names are His. When you cannot say this is His particular name, that is known as namelessness.
When you think of Baba in form, with a red robe and a halo of hair, with those beautiful gentle hands, moving in both the directions, holding the kerchief, with a beautiful, attractive smile, we are attached to His form. There is nothing wrong with that, but again it is painful because we cannot have His form before us all the time. Formlessness, however, can take us to a higher level. What do I mean by formlessness? Formlessness is truly understanding and seeing that all forms are His, that I cannot limit Him to a single form. All forms are his. All are His manifestations. That is formlessness. That is the ultimate.
Somebody said, “Sir, when I am attached to God, is there anything wrong with that?”
I said, “When you say that you are attached to God that means that your I-ness still remains.”
I am attached to God. I am still there. The sugar has not completely dissolved in the water. The sugar has not completely mixed in water. If the sugar remains as sugar and the water remains as water, how can you expect to be happy? How can you expect the water to be sweet? The sugar has to be totally dissolved. With the help of a glass rod or a spoon, stir it well; mix it up so that the sugar dissolves totally in the water. Then the water becomes sweet. The stirring process is called inquiry. The stirring process is called sadhana. The container is the body. The water is individuality. The sugar is cosmic reality.
The cosmic reality, the sugar, and the water, the individuality, when stirred together with the spoon, sadhana, in the container of human life, is reality. This is what spirituality is, the ultimate reality. Therefore my friends, the growing discontent, our growing dissatisfaction exists because we have not dissolved our I-ness fully into the cosmic reality.
This morning a friend was talking to me. I was spending time with some elders, with some like-minded people. I don’t want to mix with people who are competitive. I don’t want it. I avoid their company. I always mix with those people who consider me their friend, and whom I consider my friends—like-minded people.
Somebody asked this morning, “Why are people so serious?”
Yes. Good question. Why people are so serious? And why do we think that religion is based in seriousness? Religion is not about seriousness. Seriousness is a disease. When God is bliss, when the Creator is bliss, when the Creator is blissful, how can the creation be sorrowful? The Creator is blissful, but the creation should be sorrowful? What a paradox! Can it be? No! Any ornament made of gold should also be of gold. Don’t you think? Here is gold! Out of this gold, I make earrings—what you call bangles and rings and all that. They are also made of gold. So, ornaments made from gold, they are also golden.
Therefore, when the Creator is blissful, the creation should also be blissful. But why are we so serious? We are so because we have lost touch with the charm of life. We have lost touch with the beauty of life. We have lost touch with the charisma of life. We have missed the most beautiful things in life. A currency note gives joy to a poor man. A piece of paper! But we forget to enjoy the beauty of the wind. We forget to enjoy the beauty of a rainbow. We forget to enjoy the thrill in watching a butterfly. We forget to enjoy the passing of the leaves. We forget to enjoy the blossoming of the flowers.
We miss the charisma of life. We miss the beauty of Nature, and therefore, we are sorrowful. Once we are closer to the Nature, meaning once we are natural, I will be blissful. But I am not closer to Nature. Loving money is unnatural. Loving position is unnatural. Loving influence and power is unnatural. Loving everyone is natural.
To be one with everyone is natural. To smile is natural. To be able to communicate with everybody is natural. To share is natural. As we become unnatural, we are cut off from the beauty of Nature. We are cut off from the bliss of Nature.
Therefore my friends, creation is really charming. The Creator’s creation is most beautiful when we look at it through the spectacles of the Creator. Once we understand that creation is the reflection of the Creator, that the creation is nothing but a reflection of the Creator, we correctly see that creation is as beautiful as the Creator Himself.
Therefore, Bhagavan Baba’s name and form, Bhagavan Baba’s discourses, the Prashanti way of life, our scriptural knowledge, our spiritual practices—these should all help us to enjoy life, to be blissful, to laugh, to smile, to dance and to sing, not to cry and make others to cry. Happiness is life. Happiness is God. Joy is Divine. We have to understand this.
Therefore my friends, may Bhagavan help us to turn inward, following the path of inquiry alone, to experience the nameless and formless, the Divinity which is the Self within. That Self is the same as the Cosmic Self present in everyone. It is eternal, immortal, blemish-less, unpolluted. That should be the aim of spirituality. May Bhagavan bless every one of you! Thank you very much! (Applause)
Om Om Om
Asato Maa Sad Gamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya
Mrtyormaa Amrtam Gamaya
Om Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
Sai Ram!